Newsmakers

Empire Bank hired Michael Montana and promoted Amy Sharp. Montana joined the bank as banking center manager. She is responsible for managing retail operations and business development at the Glen Isle banking center. Montana has three years of banking experience and spent 26 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Sharp was promoted to banking center manager and retail officer. Sharp is responsible for managing retail operations and business development at the North Kansas Expressway banking center. She has seven years of banking and management experience and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Missouri State University.

Community

Boys & Girls Town of Missouri received a $150,000 grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health to support the agency’s efforts to strengthen advocacy for improved mental health of children.

Ozarks Food Harvest received a $30,000 grant from Missouri Foundation for Health to provide food to needy families. The grant, through MFH’s emergency fund, comes as food banks and pantries throughout Missouri are experiencing severe shortages; four food banks in the state are sharing $200,000 in MFH grant funds.

Three local trail projects received funds from the federal Recreational Trails Program. Ozarks Technical Community College’s Richwood Creek Trails Project received $99,563; the White River Trail at Table Rock State Park in Branson received $72,300; and the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks and Ozarks Greenways’ Valley Water Mill trail connections project received $100,000.

Education

Shelly Brown, Southwest Baptist University director of Web services, was elected to serve on the board for the Higher Education Web Professionals Association. Brown also presented during the 2007 HighEdWeb conference in Rochester, N.Y.; she discussed techniques on how to create Flash animation that meets the World Wide Web Consortium guidelines for accessibility.

David Vinyard, a May 2007 chemistry graduate from Missouri State University’s Honors College, is the school’s first-ever Rhodes Scholarship finalist. Thirty-two scholarships are assigned annually to the United States, with states grouped into 16 districts. Each district committee selects two candidates to represent the district as Rhodes Scholars at Oxford University in England.

The Ozarks Antique Auto Club donated $6,150 to the OTC Foundation, the fundraising division of Ozarks Technical Community College. The donation will provide scholarships for students in automotive technology programs in spring 2008.

Two Evangel students were hired to teach at Miyagi MeySen Academy in Sendai-City, Japan. Sarah King, a senior majoring in early childhood education, and Sara Beeler, a 2007 graduate, will join the academy, a Japanese elementary educational institution specializing in early childhood development and English as a foreign language.

Law

The American College of Trial Lawyers named Phillip R. Garrison as a member of its Board of Regents. Garrison is a shareholder with Shughart Thomson & Kilroy PC, practicing in its civil litigation section. He joined the firm in September after serving 15 years on the Missouri Appellate Court, Southern District.

Media

Whitaker Publishing LLC promoted Logan Aguirre to associate publisher of GO Magazine. Aguirre has been with the company since August 2006, serving previously as GO’s sales and marketing manager. She graduated magna cum laude from University of Missouri School of Journalism in 2000.

Greenleaf Marketing Inc. added staff members Amanda Thompson and Cathy Rippe. Thompson joined the company as a media buyer. She previously spent five years in advertising with the Springfield News-Leader and has a bachelor’s degree in communications, with emphasis in public relations, from MSU. Rippe is an account executive. She has more than 20 years of experience in media and advertising, having served as national and general sales manager for KOLR 10, retail and national sales manager for the News-Leader and marketing director for Ozarks Regional YMCA.